The deceptively simple menu at this spare Italian restaurant changes daily and plays to the style of the chef, Jonathan Waxman. He lets seasonal ingredients shine. Best of all, the reasonably priced menu provides a rare opportunity to try a celebrity chef's work without celebrity prices.

CASA MONO ** [Rating: two stars]

(212) 253-2773; 52 Irving Place (17th Street); $; Review: 1/28/04.

In Casa Mono, a tapas bar-restaurant with a New York sensibility, the owners -- Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali -- have another hit. The stars of the tapas menu are fried squid and the far more unusual fried pumpkin croquetas stuffed with goat cheese.

Marco Canora, the chef, used to work at Craft. His menu consists of delicious food with no wild-card ingredients, no fussy presentations: just good, familiar food given a little luster. But first, order some wine or beer, because the drinks list is saturated with gems.

Shane McBride, Océo's chef, and two of the new restaurant's owners, Philipp Posch and Jean-Philippe Leloup, worked at Lespinasse, which closed in April 2003. Océo's menu is probably best described as post-global. There is a fabulous braised lamb shoulder served in a crepe wrap with tomato marmalade and cool raita -- Indian and French all at once.

Riingo's fusion menu is a blend of the varied pasts of three chefs: Marcus Samuelsson, the chef at Aquavit; Johan Svensson, the former sous-chef at Nobu in London and Bond Street; and Shigenori Tanaka, who had been a sushi chef at Tomoe Sushi.

At Spice Market, Jean-Georges Vongerichten has hit on casual, exotic luxury and food that people want to eat. That food is street food -- a gastronomical genre that is regarded by some as the best in the world. Here it is reworked and polished.

Steve Hanson's new restaurant Vento is a larger, more casual version of Fiamma Osteria, his three-star Italian restaurant in SoHo. The menu runs roughly parallel to the one at Fiamma: crudo to begin, some pizza in the middle, or pasta, followed by fish, or pork, or steak.

Summaries taken from reviews use the star ratings. Others are taken from the $25 and Under column (+) and articles (++), and capsule revies from New York Today: www.nytoday.com (+++).

What the Stars Mean

**** -- Extraordinary

*** -- Excellent

** -- Very Good

* -- Good

None Poor to Satisfactory

Price Range

Based on the cost of a three-course dinner, per person, tax, tip and drinks not included.

$ -- $25 and under

$$ -- $25 to $40

$$$ -- $40 to $55

$$$$ -- $55 and over

Past Reviews -- Good Eating columns back to June 1998, along with reviews from The Times and capsule reviews by Times critics of additional restaurants not reviewed in the newspaper, are available on New York Today.